The dog is obsessed with the chickens and can now scale a 5.5ft fence...

[lougle]

So we knew he wanted the chickens. We have a hen house and we put an enclosure around it.

Patch went wildly barking and circling the enclosure, trying to get at any chicks who came near him.

We have a 5.5ft fence at the front of the garden, so we blocked off the path to the garden, leaving the yard for him to roam, while we thought of a solution.

Except he can now take a standing-start jump from the ground to the fence and scrabble over the top

It's very clever, but the novelty wears off and he's been carried back over the fence at least half a dozen times since learning to do this this morning.

Clicker at the moment is no good whatsoever. In fact, even waving a whole packet of the smelliest smoked ham at him barely saw a break in his stride (one nostril twitched ).

I know that theoretically I need to desensitise from where he is not aroused, but he can see them from the lounge window and is sensitised even there.

Do I start in the Hallway??

An overhang is what you need. Not only does it stop the dog scrambling over if it does jump, it discourages them from jumping in the first place, as the overhang means they can't visually judge distance/when to take off. We bought some of the stuff below to affix to the fence posts, it is 'stiff' enough when bent at an angle to remain in shape (chicken wire is too floppy)

www.hillsofdevon.co.uk/aviary-mesh.html

Ours is 18 inches high. The lady on the phone was very helpful!

I never normally post in the doghouse because you lot all seem scary, so please don't have a go at me if you disagree with me

My family have had hens as long as I can remember. My sister has a staffy. He never bothers the hens, but we have had other dogs in the past who found it more difficult to learn to live peaceably with the hens. Our approach has always been basically the same as training the dogs not to steal food, I think.

I would try to instill in your dog the thought that the hens are YOURS, and you are the boss of him and he can't take what is yours unless you say it is ok. Presumably he doesn't steal food off the table? So he manages to overcome his instinct to take food because you have taught him that its not ok. This is just the same, only more of a challenge because the "food" flaps and clucks

With our dogs, we have always taken them in with the hens (holding tight to the collar and getting down next to them), made them sit, reward them loads every moment they manage to stay in control of themselves, but let them know in no uncertain terms that it is unacceptable for them to go wild around your hens.

Hope that helps a bit!